Grace Cafe

Used to love this place! I have tried to give the new owners a chance, but it’s so so horrible. Won’t be back.

I’m so sad. I used to work just steps away in Sunset Square and Grace Café was my regular coffee and pastry stop. I was never disappointed and the smiles I was greeted with were the sugar dusting on the muffin, so to speak. Fast forward through the years, and any time I am in the sunset area I try to make a point to swing into Grace’s for a coffee, especially favoring it over the corporate options in the area… My last two stops have been so lackluster, however, I probably wont be stopping back in.
Today, after an early morning blood draw that required a 12 hour fast, I was desperately seeking coffee and sustenance. I swung into the Grace Café drive through to refuel. I ordered two coffees (don’t you judge me!) and a Cinnamon Roll… When my order finally arrived to the window (rather slowly.), the roll it felt heavy in the box and I’d heard good things, so I drove home in anxious anticipation of the deliciousness. sadly, this was quite possibly the worst cinnamon roll I’ve ever had. Such a first world problem, here, folks… but yuck. Day old at least, crunchy thin frosting, flat as a hockey puck, sickly sweet but with no complexity, and overcooked to the point where all ooooey gooey qualities were gone from this swirled dessert.
The search continues for a delicious cinnamon roll, and unfortunately, I wont be back.

Terrible coffee, terrible food and slow as slugs. 5 drinks and 5 bagels. 10 minutes to ring it up and over 30 minutes to get order. Peanut butter n jam toast. No jam. Toasted marshmallow breve. No toasted marshmallow flavor and no half n half. Cheapskates used milk. Cream cheese must have been watered down to stretch it gross cheapskakes, mocha milkshake runny and chunked with ice. Old ice Cream? Cheapskates. Waste of $ 50.00. Will not recommend or go ever again. Yucky food cheap owners

Their lox and cream cheese is SOOO good.

Decided to give the new owners another chance. Boy was that a mistake. I don’t know what their criteria is for hiring but the owner and one employee worked the morning breakfast yesterday. The female employee had no idea what she was doing and was extremely slow. You cannot run a café in the a.m. with two employees and a drive-​through it’s not possible. They no longer have self serve coffee out for the patrons. Four people were trying to get a refill but could not because they were so slow. I asked to put a carafe of coffee out and was told, we don’t put coffee out anymore except for large parties. I waited 15 minutes for a bagel not toasted and received one that was toasted. The bagels themselves are not the same, they are smaller than they have ever been. Someone ruined the original recipe. I’m not surprised if they close up in the next 30 days. I would have given them zero stars but that wasn’t an option.

Very disappointed, service is crappy attitude is poor food has gone down hill. I will not go back!!!

Used to stop often for lunch. Have only used drive thru for past umpteen months. Wanted a quick coffee/​bagel so stopped today. One other person there at noon. Thought that strange as it was a’hot spot’ in the past. Ordered a latte and bagel w/​cream cheese. Looked around and was hard to find a clean table… the floor looked like it hadn’t been vac’d in a week.
Latte came… was ok. 10 minutes later the bagel arrived… hard and difficult to chew. All of a sudden I feel something strange in my mouth and pull out a bean sprout which was obviously mixed in w/​the cream cheese. I took my dish up to the counter afterwards and told them what I’d found in my food. The gal’s response was ‘oh that happens sometime.’ My feelings… it shouldn’t. I didn’t want to find a bean sprout mixed in with the cream cheese! There was no apology from her, nothing. Needless to say I know why nobody was there. Place was dirty yet there were 4 staff members standing there chatting to one another. Found out there are new owners… place is nothing like it used to be.

What happened to this place?! I have been coming here for my lunch breaks once a week when I’m Bellingham for about two years and all the sudden… it changed! I just tried it again in the hopes it was better but one side of my sandwich bread was complete stale while the other was soft. I could hardly bite through one side! I am thinking there is new ownership because for the last few months their food has been a disappointment. Everything is skimpy now, a sandwich might have ONE slice of meat and half a piece of cheese. It used to be a very awesome place and you got your money’s worth. All the people are new working so it must be new cheap owners who don’t LOVE Food. I have been being loyal even with several bad sandwiches but I’m sorry to say, I will be finding a new lunch spot. At least I had fabulous food there for a year before it ask changed.

Very disappointed in the new ownership.
Having come here often for lunch for years, I had grown accustomed to the amazing breads made from scratch that made the hearty sandwiches to die for.
Well, those days are over.
It used to be worth going to Grace Café for their sourdough bread alone. The wheat was flavorful and white was fluffy and delicious too. But now, they have switched all their breads to basic pre-​sliced packaged crap. The sourdough has no flavor at all.
Aside from that, service is now notably awful. I understand the food is made to order, but it takes twice as long as it used to. They have gotten my order correct once out of my last four visits.
It’s disappointing to see a local small business go from deserving five stars to just three. I give it two because it is at least a better drive thru option than the rest on Sunset– all fast food chains. Stop cutting corners and pay attention to your customers! s

Like many others, I’ve had a good meal and coffee here years ago. I went through the drive through recently and ordered a steamer with caramel sauce and a cookie. I was told to pull to the window for my total. I pulled up to the window, and like several others experienced, I waited several minutes for anyone to show up! When she finally did, she told me my total was $ 7 (!?), handed me two small saran-​wrapped cookies, saying «we only sell these in twos». This was weird given that they were saran wrapped separately! Then I watched a barista, the girl that gave me the cookies AND another person who looked like she might be in training, all gathered around one of them as she made my steamer. I have no idea what was going on but I imagine this was about when any customer who came inside to order was forced to wait 5 minutes for anyone to acknowledge them. When I eventually got the steamer and drove off in a rush (it had taken 5 minutes longer than expected), it was the wrong size, AND they’d used weird sugar-​free caramel SYRUP in it. Also, both cookies were stale. If I hadn’t been in a hurry, I would’ve gone back for a refund. As it is, I just won’t go back.

Been going here for a couple of years. New ownership since first of year. Nice people, bagels seem the same quite good (for outside the east coast). The changes I noticed are that they moved the coffee urns behind the counter, no more fill your own and refills without asking and presumably paying. Most annoying however was the runny cream cheese on a bagel and lox sandwich and a bagel and salmon spread sandwich… obviously watered down and/​or some product that’s runny rather than cream cheese or even neuchaftel cheese. I hope they stop that practice. The Bagelry in downtown Bellingham is the standard that I compare this place to and the Bagels are OK almost as good, but the condiments (cream cheese and spreads) are obviously doctored and sub standard.

Came here for lunch today. Not very busy. I ordered a turkey sandwich with cheddar cheese. Very basic. I watched 3 customers who came after me receive their food order before me. After waiting 25 min for my order I asked when my turkey sandwich would be ready. They man looked surprised that I did not receive my order yet. He doesn’t even apologize. He has another lady bring out my order. Very bad customer service.
The food… Nothing special. Only 1 slice of turkey with my sandwhich and mostly bread. They folded the one slice of turkey to make it seem like I got two slices. Very cheap with the protein. I will not be coming back.

I used to love coming here when I was younger with my mom for cookies and Italian sodas, but now I don’t even know where to start with this place.
Their food is overpriced and sloppily made. Every time I’ve gotten a bagel, the cream cheese gets EVERYWHERE.
Last time I ordered a sandwich to avoid said cream cheese overload, and the bread was stale! I didn’t notice until I drove home, otherwise I would have said something. Gross.
Service has been on a downhill slope for sometime, maybe this has something to do with new ownership?
Usually I utilize the drive through for convenience, but I went inside and the place was a disaster! Crumbs and napkins were all over the tables and the displays were completely covered in smudges. It looks like they only clean the place right after closing.

Omg! So I came back through Bellingham so stopped at Grace Café hoping they could get it right. After all it has been a few years. I ordered at the counter. A plain toasted bagel with cream cheese, tomato, sprouts and turkey. Not complicated. She asked me twice then said «so you want cheddar cheese on your bagel?» I said «no it was cream cheese.» Figured since she asked twice and was corrected on the cheddar/​cream cheese fiasco that my order was clear. My bad. It came with everything I asked for plus lettuce and onions. Holy shite!
I also had my 5 year old daughter with me. The girl said they had grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for kids so we ordered the pb&j. It came on a toasted bagel and the messiest mess I’ve ever seen. My daughter couldn’t even eat it because it was so hard. They may want to inform customers that they are putting it on a bagel instead of bread. Unbelievable! I did tell the girl at the counter that the bagel was to hard for kids and she agreed and said it was her third day. So at least she has an excuse. The café as a whole needs to get it together!

Okay not only have I been disappointed about the change in bagels… but now all the old crew left… that says A LOT! Today I sat at the drive through speaker for 5 min… NO hi, NO just a min please… so drove up to the window since no one was in front of me… sat at the window for another few min. I could see workers but no one came… went to Starbucks.

Service was really bad. Orders were wrong. Everything seems so disorganized. The problem seems to be the guy managing the café.
The workers are struggling to make orders right, yet they still come out wrong.
This used to be a really nice place for lunch.

Grace Café, in my opinion, is the best place to get a bagel in town. Their lox are excellent… Sliced fish, not chunks. They have vegan options. Easy parking. Bright dining area. Always friendly service. Good, dependable place. I live their pies and cookies.

Wish the ownership luck but from the look of the baked goods, they have a lot work to do to catch up quality I’d become accustomed to. Good luck. I will check back.

I have a confession to make. When I was pregnant with my third child I used to come here every day for a cup (just one!) of their delicious, roasty, Tony’s coffee. But life got busy and I hadn’t been back in awhile until recently. I was pleased to find the same yummy coffee, and enjoyed one of their delicious fresh-​baked bagels. The service, though, was definitely not as friendly as it had been previously, which made me sad as it used to have more of a «hometown» feel. The place was also kinda dirty; crumbs on the tables, floors, and window sills. When the front of the house is dirty I always wonder how things are in the back where the customers can’t see them. It’s sad seeing a place I used to love so much suffering from an apparent decline. I hope they can pull it back together because the coffee really is fantastic!

I used to love this place, and it’s been a ‘go-​to’ for years. The last two visits though the portions have shrunk. My french dip sandwich is a delicious 6 bites… at $ 7.40 that’s more than a dollar a bite. Hmm, it’s not THAT good. I brought up the small size at my most recent visit. I was told they got a new baker and the bread is smaller (no apologies). So, the sandwiches have shrunk, but the price is the same. I won’t be back.